The present invention relates to a door latch device for a vehicle comprising a door which can be opened and closed about a hinge shaft, the device enabling the door to be held in a closed position.
In JP2005-68722A, a hatch door is pivotally secured at the rear part of a vehicle body about a hinge shaft at the top to open and close up and down. A door latch device for holding the hatch door in a closed position comprises a base plate fixed to the hatch door with bolts; a latch pivotally secured to the back plate for holding the hatch door at the closed position by engagement with a striker of the vehicle body; and a ratchet pivotally secured to the back plate to engage with the latch to prevent the latch from turning in a door-opening direction.
In the door latch device therein, an axial direction of bolts for fixing right and left mounting portions of the base plate to the hatch door is different from an opening direction of the hatch door. Opening load of the hatch door which acts between the latch and the striker is applied to the bolts obliquely. As a result, the mounting portion of the base plate and the surface of the hatch door to which the mounting portion is fixed with the bolts are obliquely deformed and are likely to be subject to decrease in strength, so that the base plate and others have to be made in larger size.